Run Across America Q&A: Part II

How do you manage to balance family life with running across the country for 75-days?Dean Karnazes answers: Balance? Did I say there was balance? There was no balance. It was frenetic, disorderly, intensely trying at times, and really exciting for all of us! My family has an underlying love for one another and a mutual respect that provides the glue that holds us together. Before I agreed to do the run I asked them if they were okay with it. The resounding answer was “Yes!” They met me at points along the way and we stayed in touch frequently, including virtual dinners on Sunday nights via Skype.

You met Michelle Obama. How did she welcome you in the White House?Dean Karnazes answers: First Lady Michelle Obama welcomed my entire family with open arms! She is one of the warmest and most sincere people I have ever met. She told me her entire family was following the run across America and it was a great honor to meet me in person. Can you imagine that, the First Lady telling me it was a great honor! As a runner, it made me proud for all runners.

How did you stay injury free?Dean Karnazes answers: That, I don’t profess to know. I did a lot of upper body resistance work and cross-training on my ElliptiGO with the hopes that having good overall muscle development would help take some of the strain off my joints, tendons and ligaments. I knew that a fair amount of muscle wasting was inevitable during the journey, so I tried to build some added bulk beforehand for reserve if need be.

Post-run recovery routine?Dean Karnazes answers: I took periodic ice baths during the hot days, but that was about it. I don’t stretch much and I don’t get massages, and I didn’t want to start something during the run. Basically, I just got up every morning and ran. The human body is capable of some incredible feats if you don’t get in its way too much and just let it do its thing. In many ways, we are perfectly engineered for running.

Any Forrest Gump comparisons?Dean Karnazes answers: Yeah, got a few of those, though one reporter said he was never going to make the reference again after coming out and seeing firsthand what I was doing. Forrest Gump, he told me, was a fictional character running on a treadmill with a green screen behind him and a movie camera. What you’re doing is real. I think he underestimated the intensity of the physical nature of running across the country.

Any insights gleaned along the way?Dean Karnazes answers: Sure, here’s one: You don’t have to go fast, you just have to go. How do you run across America? Simple, the same way you get out of bed in the morning, one step at a time.

How did you feel when this trip came to an end?Dean Karnazes answers: It was a strange mixture of both elation and sorrow. While it felt great to have successfully completed the endeavor, it is the journey that I cherish not the finish line. The realization hit me that the journey was now over (at least for the time being).

Stats: Number of GPS miles: 3,105Number of shoes exhausted: 53 (all trail shoes)Number of socks destroyed: 22Number of blisters: 0Number of lost toenails: 4Number of lost pounds: 3Number of hours of nightly sleep: 4-5Number of wonderful memories: CountlessNumber of people who touched my heart: Ditto

So, what’s next?Dean Karnazes answers: My dream is to expand upon this past voyage. I’m now working on running a marathon in every country of the world in a 1-year global expedition. Getting all of the requisite visa and necessary authorizations has been a massive undertaking, but we’re well on our way. Right now it’s just a dream, but something I learned from running across America is that if you keep chasing your dreams, one day you just might catch them!To watch video segments of the Run Across America, go to: RUN!